


Invisible scars

by WinterCap221b



Category: Marvel
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, Feels, Mission Report, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 14:54:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8921431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterCap221b/pseuds/WinterCap221b
Summary: December 16, 1991 will never stop haunting Bucky





	1. Chapter 1

“… homecoming … one … fright car. – Soldier?”  
“Ready to comply.”  
Like a dark cloud threatening a thunder storm the Winter Soldier rose from his chair, waiting for his orders.  
The man standing in front of him smiled and handed him a file sporting the HYDRA logo on its cover. “These are your next targets. We want them eliminated by tomorrow. No traces, no witnesses. You’re invisible as always. Mission report is due in 24 hours from now.”  
The Soldier nodded and opened the file. The first page showed the picture of a white-haired man in his seventies with a white moustache and an expensive-looking suit. According to the infor-mation written next to the picture, he was Howard Stark, founder and president of Stark Indus-tries. The Soldier looked at the picture for a second longer than usual and his superior immediately noticed.  
“Is there a problem?”  
“No.” Frowning the Soldier shook his head and turned the page to the second target: Stark’s wife. “Her too?”  
“She’s collateral damage,” the man explained. “She and Howard will be on their way to a little holi-day trip tonight. Unfortunately for them, they have something we want. It will be in their car’s trunk and you will get it for us. Needless to say that we can’t let them leave alive. Are we clear on that?”  
The Soldier squared his shoulders and nodded again. “Yes.” He didn’t know why he had hesitated. Somehow the name Stark sounded familiar but he couldn’t place it and as always the cloud in his head was too thick to let him think clearly. Knowing that any attempt at getting to the source of his uneasiness was futile, he closed the file and left for the armoury.  
\---  
A few hours later, he sped along a dark and deserted country road on his motorbike. Howard and Maria Stark had left their house about an hour ago and he had followed them ever since. He was waiting for the right moment to strike and when they made a turn on an even more secluded street, he decided that the moment had come. There hadn’t been any other cars for the past ten miles, so he accelerated until he almost touched Stark’s bumper, then overtook the car and went back into the lane right in front of it before slamming the brakes, forcing Stark to jerk the wheel violently. The car skidded across the street, did a 360 and then crashed into a wall next to the street.  
The Soldier stopped his bike and slowly walked over to the destroyed car. Stark had been projected from the car and lay a few yards away. He was injured and when he saw the Soldier approach him, he begged him to help his wife but the Soldier didn’t even listen.  
Leaning down he grabbed the old man by his hair and pulled him up. Stark was bleeding and when he met the Soldier’s merciless gaze, his eyes widened in surprise.  
“Sergeant Barnes?” he croaked, his words like a cold blade to the Soldier’s soul.  
The Soldier froze for a second as an image flashed through his mind: Howard Stark as a young man, surrounded by the cheering masses. He had been there. He had been among the audience. A young man himself, the promise of a bright future ahead of him, confidence and a thirst for action oozing from every pore.  
Whatever Howard Stark had done to become a target on the Soldier’s list, he didn’t deserve to die. But the Soldier couldn’t help it. Hydra was too strong, and while his inside desperately fought against it, he lifted his metal arm and crashed it down on Stark’s head. With every blow he hated himself more. He wanted to stop but it was as if an external force was controlling him. His insides burned as the image of young Howard Stark kept swimming in front of him. Too bright, too loud, too real, too –  
“NOOOOOOOOO!”  
“Wanda, stop it!”


	2. Chapter 2

Wanda lowered her hands and the red waves of energy surrounding Bucky’s head vanished. The former Winter Soldier was sitting sunk down on his bed. He shivered, his chest heaving, sweat and tears mixing on his face.   
“I’m so sorry, Buck,” Steve said placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “This was a bad idea. We shouldn’t have –“  
“Yes, yes, you should,” Bucky replied hoarsly, impatiently wiping the tears from his face. “I need those memories. I need to know what really happened.”  
“So, did it work?” Wanda asked anxiously. It had taken them some persuasion to convince her of this little experiment. Bucky was determined to find out the truth about his time as the Winter Soldier but Wanda was still too scared to fully apply her powers, afraid that she might accidentally hurt someone in the process. However, after a lot of pleading from Bucky’s side and his promise that he wouldn’t hold her responsible for whatever might happen during their session, she finally agreed to put him into some kind of trance and take him back to the night Tony’s parents had died. She had argued that they should maybe start with a mission that was less personal but Bucky had been adamant.   
“Yes, it worked,” he now said. “I was there. And I knew who he was. I knew what I was doing but there was nothing I could do against it. I felt like someone in a coma: trapped in their own body but fully aware of their surroundings.”  
“But how is this supposed to help?” Wanda asked. “We saw you suffer. Do you really want to do this to you again? I could help you forget. For good this time. Sooth the pain and give you a brand new start.”  
“No! I don’t want to forget. I want to remember. All of them. That’s what I owe them. They are part of my past – whether I like it or not. I have to face them and maybe then I will be able to overcome the nightmares, the pain. They suffered, so I don’t deserve anything less.”  
Wanda looked questioningly at Steve who was just as uncertain about the whole situation as she was, but he knew that Bucky wouldn’t give in, so he nodded, hoping that in the end it would really help Bucky to put the past behind him.  
Taking a deep breath Wanda raised her hands again and sent Bucky back to December 16, 1991.


End file.
